6 WAYS TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR IPAD
WHAT’S THE IPAD GOOD FOR? LOTS!
Apart from looking cool and offering a larger touch surface than your iPhone, what good is an iPad, really? Is it worth shelling out a decent chunk of change, or would it just lay around unused? Would I have to buy a bunch of accessories to make it worth it? I found myself pondering exactly this dilemma when deciding whether to purchase the 2020 iPad Pro. I did end up buying the sleek new tablet, but it took me months to get into the swing of using it. Are you in the same boat? It turns out, there's a lot an iPad can bring to the table if you take the time to learn what makes it unique. Here are a few simple, fun tips that will make any iPad feel much more useful!
THE ONE ACCESSORY YOU SHOULD PROBABLY BUY
First, if you don't own an iPad-compatible stylus or an Apple Pencil, you're missing out. Personally, I love how many functionalities my Apple Pencil gives me access to, so I was very willing to spend the money on it. That said, even a much more affordable third-party stylus can make things like taking notes, doodling, and accurately selecting or moving things much easier.
COLORING: NOT JUST FOR THE KIDS
One of the most satisfying and relaxing things you can do with your iPad is to simply kick back and color, paint, or sketch. There are thousands of options to choose from, ranging from grown-up-friendly coloring pages to color by number. If you're looking for an easy app to start with, Tayasui Color
($2.99) is my current favorite. It allows you to create stunning colors and textures on coloring pages with minimal effort.
If you're a little more experienced with art, you may want to try the Procreate app ($9.99)! The tools and techniques available allow for some truly fun and amazing results, even if you're just fiddling around for fun.
UPGRADE YOUR VIDEO CHATS
FaceTime is hugely popular among Apple device users, and it's even more fun to use on an iPad. Any iPad will give you a larger screen for FaceTiming than your iPhone will, which makes it easier to see the faces of those you love! On newer iPads, the built-in Center Stage feature takes this to the next level by zooming, pivoting, and focusing the camera based on your movements, so you can call your friends or family while cooking or doing other activities, without stepping in and out of view.
STREAM ON THE BIG(GER) SCREEN
Many people don't realize that most of the top entertainment services offer iPad apps. It just makes sense to offer content streaming on a screen bigger than your iPhone yet more portable than your TV! Add your favorite service, such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon Prime, HBO Max, to give yourself entertainment options while traveling, or just to a room in your house where there's no TV. Several services, such as Amazon Prime, even offer downloads (so much easier on an iPad than on an iPhone) so you can access content without an internet connection!
LEARN AND PLAY
Sure, you can do puzzles, brain teasers, and languagelearning activities on your iPhone, but the words and images are so tiny. Why not use your iPad's larger screen to make it less frustrating? I absolutely love Duolingo's iPad app interface and find it much more fun to learn languages on the iPad version of Duolingo (Free) as opposed to using my iPhone. For brain puzzles, I always keep a collection of logic puzzles, brain games, and search-and-find games in my iPad's app collection.
MULTITASK LIKE A PRO!
Multitasking is one of the coolest hidden-gem benefits of owning an iPad, especially with the new capabilities available since the release of iPadOS 15. You can use multiple apps simultaneously, size them to your liking, and enter and exit Split View with ease to give your productivity (or relaxation) a big boost. I love to have a movie or music playing on a smaller side of the screen while checking my email, doodling, or browsing the web on the larger portion. This is especially handy on road trips or airplanes!
As you can see, you don't have to be a pro to get a lot of use out of an iPad, and you certainly don't need to drop large sums of money on high-tech gadgets to make your iPad purchase worth it. So many features, such as multitasking, either exist solely on the iPad or are much easier on its larger and clearer screen. It's easy to write off the iPad as a luxury device, but it's equally easy to fall in love with the convenience and entertainment offered by the most popular tablet in the world. �